Manufacture of stockings



(No Model.)

W. ESTY.

MANUFACTURE OF STOCKINGS.

No. 247,3ggi

gi-flz Patented Sept. 20,1881

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE. v

WILLIAM ESTY, OF LAGONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

MANUFACTURE OF STOCKINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,326, datedSeptember 20, 1881. Application filed August 2, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM ESTY, of Laconia,in the county of Belknap and State of New Hampshire, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Stockings; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of stockings;and it consists in knitting the leg of the stocking down to the pointwhere the foot commences, knitting the foot and heel portions as a flatweb with selvage edges, and with suitable bulged projections for theheel and toe, and then connecting the ends of such foot portions to theleg portion, and joining the selvage edges of the said foot portion byseaming, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

' The object of my invention is to knit the foot portions ofa stockingin a continuous flat web, which is afterward cut into-suitable lengths,and then united to the leg portion, which has been separately knit, andthus formed into stockings.

Figure 1 is an edge-view of a length of webbing knit in one continuouslength, and out of which the foot portions of the stocking are formed.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a leg and foot portion just ready to bejoined together..

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a leg having afoot portion united at oneend to it. Fig. at is a similar view of two legs and two feet unitedtogether in one continuous length.

A represents the leg of a stocking, and which is knit upon a circularmachine in the usual manner. The foot portion 0 of the stocking is knitupon a fiat machine, in one continuous flat web of any desired length,in which Web are formed at regular intervals apart bulged projections orpockets for the heels and toes. This web is cut into suitable lengths,so as to form the foot portions of the stockings, and

each length is then doubled upon itself, as shown in Fig. 2, and thenhas each of its ends united to the bottom edges of the leg in anysuitable manner, so as to form acomplete stocking. After the ends of thefoot portion have been united to the leg portion the selvage edges D ofthe foot are seamed or united together in any suitable manner and thestocking is complete.

Instead of knitting the foot portions in one long continuous web-andthen cutting it into lengths, as above described, a portion of thestitches on the lower edge of the leg may be run upon the needles of afooter, and the foot be begun and knit from this point, as shown in Fig.3. This knitting may be begun at the top part of the foot and end at theheel, or may be begun at the heel and end at the top part of the foot,as may be preferred.

When the foot portion is to be knit onto the leg, in order to save onetaking of the Work off of the machine, two foot portions may be knit inone length, and then the last end of the second foot be knit orotherwisejoined toa second leg, as shown in Fig. 4. The two footportions are then separated at the dotted line, and each stocking isthen finished separately.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- The improvement in the artof knitting stockings which consists, first,in knitting the leg of thestocking down to the point where the foot is to commence in the usualmanner; second, knitting the foot portions as a flat web with selvageedges, and with suitable bulged projections for the to eand heel; and,finally, uniting the ends ot'such foot portion to the leg portion, andjoining the selvage edges of the said foot portion by seaming,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM ESTY.

Witnesses:

W. W. MORTIMER, A. O. KIsKAnDEN.

